Watching carefully, acting quickly

When a woman with a one-month-old daughter named Alice walked into the emergency department at Sentara BelleHarbour, she didn’t know about Sentara Commitments and “Always Work Together as a Team To Provide You Quality Healthcare.”

But she was soon to see the philosophy in action.

Alice had been fighting the sniffles for a week. Her regular doctor checked her and reported nothing wrong other than a cold.

On Christmas Day, the mom worried, because Alice’s appetite had dropped off completely.

“I took her to Sentara BelleHarbour Emergency Department, where they tested her for Respiratory synctyial virus (RSV), which was negative. As she wasn’t dehydrated and there was still nothing wrong other than a cold, they sent us home with further instructions to keep an eye on her,” the mother shared. “The next day, my baby still wasn’t eating, and woke up lethargic, an unhealthy color, and only somewhat responsive. My husband stayed home with our older daughters, and I drove my baby back to BelleHarbour.”

She was immediately helped by Dr. Kelley Foley, who had met Alice the previous day. The doctor agreed that something was wrong. She ordered some tests. She then walked backed into the room and Alice suddenly stopped breathing.

Fast to respond

“Before I had even really absorbed what was going on, Dr. Foley and her team had Alice across the hall and were performing CPR,” said the mother. “She went less than a minute without oxygen before they were working on her. As they were starting to intubate her, Alice coughed up the mucus that had been blocking her lungs.”

The staff immediately placed the baby on life support and transported her to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters . CHKD’s doctors diagnosed her with non-RSV bronchiolitis (a bad virus that had come on quickly and settled into her lungs). She spent six days in pediatric intensive care.

“If it weren’t for the fact that we were at Belle Harbor when Alice stopped breathing, she probably wouldn’t be alive today,” the mom shared. “Dr. Kelley Foley, Emergency Physicians of Tidewater, Liz Nelms, RN, charge nurse, Kelley Andrews, RN, Katie Batten, ER tech, and Vicki Bishop, RN, were amazingly quick and I know they saved my baby’s life. I can’t possibly thank them enough and will never forget them.”